Recently, the official in charge of trade policy in the European Union indicated that Brussels may impose tariffs on Chinese electric cars before the summer vacation. According to a report by the American online media “Politico” on May 2, Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice President and Trade Commissioner of the European Union responsible for trade policy, mentioned that the EU Commission is progressing with its investigation into Chinese electric car subsidies and hinted at the possibility of imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles before the summer vacation. “We can expect to take the next steps before the summer break.”
Since the EU launched an anti-subsidy investigation into imported Chinese electric cars in October last year, it has been anticipated that Brussels will soon levy provisional tariffs on electric cars imported from China. This is due to complaints from European companies that Chinese car manufacturers receive significant subsidies from the Chinese government, allowing them to artificially lower car prices to compete in Europe, thus harming European car manufacturers.
In a State of the Union address in September last year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen first raised the issue of this investigation, warning that the global market is being “flooded” with cheap Chinese electric cars.
With European Parliament elections scheduled for June this year, when asked whether temporary measures will be announced before or after the election, Dombrovskis did not directly respond, stating that he cannot “pre-announce specific dates” and must respect the legally established announcement schedule.
According to relevant EU laws, July 4, nine months after the EU initiated the investigation, is the deadline for implementing temporary measures, including tariffs or quotas.
On Monday (April 30), the Rhodium Group, an American economic research company, released a study stating: “We expect the European Commission to impose tariffs ranging from 15% to 30%. But even with such high tariffs, some Chinese manufacturers can still make substantial profits on cars exported to Europe because they have significant cost advantages.”
The report indicates: “Tariffs of 40% to 50% must be imposed to make Chinese electric car exporters unattractive in the European market, and for vertically integrated manufacturers like BYD, the tariff may need to be even higher.”